Monday, June 01, 2009

Israel's Nationwide War Drill

Tomorrow at 11 AM -- Tuesday, June 2cnd, will mark the most serious of the exercises of the "Turning Point 3" war drill being conducted by the IDF Homefront Command.

Unfortunately, many people aren't treating this exercise with the seriousness it deserves.

Over the past 3 years, Israeli cities have been attacked by rockets from Lebanon in the North, to Gaza in the South, and even Eilat in the Deep South was hit by Katyushas.

I guess Anglo Olim might treat the drill more seriously, since there's a culture of preparedness -- be it fire drills, tests of the emergency broadcasting system (or whatever its called now), and in school at least, these drills weren't a laughing matter.

Here in Israel, during the first Gulf war, I personally know many Israelis who would go to their rooftops upon hearing the sirens to try and catch a glimpse of the Patriot Missile launches against the Iraqi SCUD rockets.

While the IDF Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref) has been trying it's best to publicize tomorrow's drill and the importance of finding a secure location upon hearing the Air Raid siren at 11...so many people just couldn't be bothered.

Be Prepared! The absolutely best way to prepare for an emergency is to practice in a simulated environment. Its the only way to minimize chances of you not being able to function in a real emergency situation.

Here's the Pikud HaOref WebSite in English. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the information, close your eyes and imagine it's real. Open your eyes, go through the motions tomorrow, and lets hope we never have to run to a shelter when hearing an Air Raid Siren.

Once you've internalized that we are a nation at war, then you can read things like this or this.